SEMICON WEST 2024 Kicks Off in San Francisco

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Unsurprisingly, it is overcast as I drive into San Francisco to the Moscone Center for SEMICON 2024. The doors did not open until 7:30 am, which left a few of us loitering outside anticipating what we’d find on the other side of the doors. I am one of those strange individuals who kind of loves trade shows and conferences. I have always had a curious mind and thirst for knowledge, so continuing my education on cutting-edge technology and market trends fills me with energy. SEMICON and semiconductors are not our core industry, but everything that they do and work toward informs and trickles down into the reality of the printed circuit board supply chain. 

SEMI Americas President Joe Stockunas kicked off the event, citing impressive year-over-year attendance growth: 37% for 2023 and another 35% this year, which seems to mirror the general trend seen over the past two years in our segment of the industry as well. In the end, there will have been 50 content sessions representing 20 market communities and featuring 470 speakers showcased at SEMICON 2024. The core initiatives of SEMI mirror ours through IPC in many ways, including focusing on sustainability and workforce, that both have full programs associated with them all three days of the conference. 

As part of the CEO Summit keynote series, Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI, gave a stirring overview presentation titled “Unprecedented,” and went on to outline the unprecedented opportunities and challenges that lie ahead and some of the unprecedented actions that are already taking place during this historic (unprecedented) time in the development of chip technology and electronics. Manocha pointed out that we have never before had four markets all propelling us forward with such force: AI, mobility (automotive and vehicle electronics), smart manufacturing, and medical technology, with 52% of growth for semiconductors being driven by AI specifically by 2030, a time milestone where the U.S. semiconductor industry is anticipated to reach a staggering $1 trillion.

He took us through an overview of recent tech history, outlining the technology disruptors in waves. The first wave occurred during the last decade and was driven by IoT. The second wave is starting to happen now, driven by AI; and the third wave will be the Quantum age. He emphasized the “surge to $1 trillion” by 2030, with $5 trillion in the offing by 2050. This simple statement encapsulates the full scope and scale of the semiconductor and the technology stack it represents both up and downstream, “Semiconductors are the foundation to nearly everything, but more importantly, semiconductors are the foundation to humanity.” He finished his thought by emphasizing that every country in the world is waking up to this reality. The unprecedented global challenges include geopolitical challenges, the “war for talent” or workforce, and the path to net zero (sustainability), for which he freely admitted there is no present solution.

Emphasizing the great need for more public-private-partnerships, he also highlighted the unprecedented need for more and different means of communicating and advocating for our businesses, stating that no single group or country will be able to solve the challenges ahead. In that vein, he announced a new international advocacy forum that SEMI was able to bring together, and which the government and, more recently, academia are both a part. The EPA is party to this, and in what felt to me a stunning declaration, Manocha noted that the EPA had agreed not to shut down PFAS as long as we all work on solutions together to move the needle forward. 

Following that keynote was a much-anticipated presentation by the esteemed Laurie Locascio, with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Director and Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She provided a CHIPS for America update, proudly proclaiming that the CHIPS and Science Act has made great strides in “revitalizing the American semiconductor industry” in just two short years since the landmark, bipartisan legislation was passed, proclaiming, “We’ve changed the global landscape.” 

Citing the $30 billion in funding and $25 billion in loans being offered, and 104 fabs currently being built on US soil representing four of the big five global semiconductor makers, Dr. Locascio emphasized that the United States is on pace to have a full 38% of the semiconductor market by 2030. She also highlighted the government’s strong support of research and development with $11 billion funding for R&D efforts and a focus on advanced packaging innovation and the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The center will be host to the industry’s brightest minds working together to advance aggressive technology objectives, including identifying critical gaps in the full semiconductor technology stack.

I then moved to the Flex conference, which also showcased a full schedule of keynotes and presentations for all three days focused on flexible electronics, in all the ways that needs to be true going forward. The first keynote presenter on that side of the halls was Lama Nachman of Intel who gave a compelling presentation on responsible AI/human collaboration, underscoring throughout that “context is everything.” Looking expansively toward the future, robots in Nachman’s world learn by observing the humans they assist. There is less programming and more demonstration and even verbal instructions. These robots have predictive capabilities, anticipate the needs of the humans in their sphere, and, for example, proactively grab the next parts they will need to complete their work. 

She advocates “World Models” of AI development versus the current Large Language Models standard. She reinforced that it is completely up to us how we will build AI systems moving forward, and that we have the power, and should have the forethought, to leverage the best that AI and humans have to offer together. Of course, trust and risk mitigation should be a significant part of the thought process in the earliest planning stages. When asked about regulating “responsible use,” she acknowledged that it is a developing “science” for a moving target but indicated that, at present, regulating responsible use is focused on defining what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable usage of AI technology. 

 Eric Dede, Director of the Electronics Research Department at Toyota Research Institute of North America followed with his presentation, “A Vision for Next Generation Intelligent Electric Systems,” and kicked off his talk by stating Toyota’s aggressive environmental goals to reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2050 through their investment in EV and other mobility efforts. He reviewed the relevant technology trends with a slightly different approach: intelligence, which includes AI; electrification of automotive, computation (including quantum computing and sensing); immersive experiences (AR/VR); human centric technology, indicating a growing interactive component; and wellness-oriented technology such as medical and biotech. Most interesting to me was his discussion on the research Toyota is doing into flexible electronics that perform human monitoring in automobiles, things like electrodermal activity (EDA) sensors and an adaptable sensing surface. Can you imagine your steering wheel sensing a sudden spike in your heart rate or sweaty palms and your car suggesting you pull over immediately and calling 911 for you? He noted that both hardware and software must be further developed to support such innovations.

In the afternoon, I got my steps in bouncing between the CEO keynotes and the workforce and sustainability pavilions. Right after lunch, I was encouraged by Chris “Coach” Suozzi of Dupree, New York, who discussed workforce development focusing on K-12 education in the counties in which he works. He said that we need a PULL system rather than the PUSH system of recruiting that hasn’t been effective. He believes we must pull kids up through STEM curriculum, educating teachers and administrators that kids don’t need to go to college to have a great career, and providing programs and camps to encourage kids to have fun with science and get hands-on training with manufacturing technology. They offer clubs, camps and internships, including their mechatronics program for 11^th and 12^th graders in which they’ve invested about $700,000 for equipment. Says Coach, “If you aren’t working with K-12, you are missing the boat,” and he points out that if just one in ten graduating seniors who were exposed to their program goes to work in manufacturing, we are making huge strides in addressing our workforce program.

I caught the last part of the CEO keynote series, “Securing Critical Supply Chains for the 21^st Century," a Q&A with Jose Fernandez of the State Department. We learned a new term, “friendshoring,” which is much like nearshoring but a little further out, and with countries and governments that are friendly with the United States. Fernandez sees Latin America as the next frontier for partnerships. He also discussed the need for companies to tighten up their controls and protection measures so that their technology does not accidentally end up in the hands of hostile governments doing bad things around the world, stating that if we want to protect our country and our democracy, we have to work together; and that it is not about legal liability, but about holding our values dear.

I ended day one of the conference focused on sustainability, looking at the challenge of true circularity of electronic products through a project between iNEMI and Purdue University on near 100% recyclability of hard drives. Presented by Carol Handwerker of Purdue University, her presentation was aptly named “Value Recovery from Used Electronics: A Lesson in Grit,” and clearly illustrated the complexity of the undertaking and the myriad challenges that arose working to implement the program, even with great partners and a lot of support. 

Moving from circularity of electronics to that of water usage and reclamation, Nate Haralson of Gradient discussed the challenges of water usage. The stark reality is that a single fab uses tens of millions of gallons of water per day, the equivalent to home water usage for a small city. He believes that we need to have a change in mindset from that of being a “user” to one of being a “steward” of water. The growing necessity of wastewater reclamation in the semiconductor industry is particularly dramatic against the backdrop of places like Arizona where both Intel and TSMC are building huge fabs in the water starved state. But the presenter assures us that there are solutions and progress is being made. One of the greatest challenges companies face is a copycat attitude–the tendency to simply adopt what others are doing instead of working through the unique needs of your own factory, starting with a blank slate. This can dramatically affect one’s initial cost and ROI, potentially saving millions of dollars if done right initially.

Geographic growth markets being highlighted are New York state and Indiana; the latter’s governor, Eric Holcomb, made a brief appearance during the early keynotes. Holcomb announced that a huge fab would be built in the Hoosier state, and he heralded their progress in becoming the leader in biotechnology. A little further afield, some “friendshoring” will be on display as the Dominican Republic hosts a reception this week to outline global opportunities for electronics manufacturing in the U.S. territory.

It was a busy Day One of SEMICON 2024. Stay tuned for updates on the rest of the show.